


French Lessons

by energie_vie



Series: Magnetic [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, POV Nile Freeman, Pining, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27227254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/energie_vie/pseuds/energie_vie
Summary: "It takes her six months to get around to asking Booker to teach her French. She tells herself it's not a priority and between the handful of missions and the jumping from one country to another on a weekly basis, she manages to fool herself that this is the only reason she's putting it off."OR: how to go from swooning to a heartfelt discussion in a single French lesson.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Series: Magnetic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987831
Comments: 15
Kudos: 131





	French Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> Chronologically, this takes place after "My Own Nickname", but it's definitely a standalone. However, there is a tiny connection and I'm actually curious how obvious it is. Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: cover art at the end of the story by the wonderful StarWatcher.

It takes her six months to get around to asking Booker to teach her French. She tells herself it's not a priority and between the handful of missions and the jumping from one country to another on a weekly basis, she manages to fool herself that this is the only reason she's putting it off. In reality, she's not sure spending so much time with his focus solely on her is such a good idea. The man is distracting enough as it is with his piercing blue eyes and his quirky smile, she doesn't need him directing his entire attention to her for possibly hours at a time.

However, she does need to learn the language and he's the best option there is, so she resolutely pushes aside any unwelcome thoughts she may or may not have about him. He's all too eager to help, no teasing, no poking fun at her and Nile actually starts looking forward to the two months of downtime they have planned in Lisbon (Joe swears by the _pastéis de nata_ and the _bacalhau_ ).

'So when do you want to start, kid?' he asks the second day after they settle in their Airbnb flat and Nile bristles just a little bit.

She doesn't like it when he calls her "kid", though it hasn't happened quite as often as of late. She can't explain why exactly but she thinks it might have something to do with not being seen as their equal. Or with the fact that _he_ doesn't see her as a woman. It also might be just her skewed perception, so she lets this one slide.

'Whenever,' she shrugs. 'This afternoon?'

'Sounds good. Just make sure you have a pen and paper,' he grins and Nile frowns in confusion.

'For what?'

'To write stuff down?' he replies as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Which it is, but Nile is still confused.

'Why would I want to write stuff down?'

'Just bring a pen and paper,' Booker says, rolling his eyes. 'Trust me, I used to be teacher.'

'What? When? Why?'

'A long time ago. I liked it,' he shrugs and smiles and Nile makes a mental note to get back to this topic at a later date.

'Got it. I'm off to run some errands. Catch you later,' she says, then grabs her bag and walks out the door.

Four hours later she's sitting at the kitchen table, a notebook in front of her and two pens next to it, waiting for Booker to finish the chapter he's reading. When he sits down in front of her, he gestures with his head towards the two pens.

'Are you planning to take _that_ many notes?' he teases good-naturedly.

'Depends on how good a teacher you are,' she teases back and dares to hope this may not be as unnerving as she had imagined.

That shred of hope dies painfully a few moments later when Booker rolls the sleeves of his shirt up his forearms, puts his elbows on the table, crosses his hands and rests his chin on them, looking intently at her.

'Right. Do you have any knowledge of French at all? I'm trying to figure out where we need to start,' he explains.

Nile just blinks stupidly at him. This was a veeeeeery bad idea.

'Um.. I think I remember the basics. You know, greetings, how to introduce myself, stuff like that. I did take it for a year in high school but the teacher kind of sucked and either way, many years have passed since then and I haven't had a chance to use even the little French I know.'

She's rambling and he's listening patiently, smiling in that quirky way of his and Nile just wonders if it's not too late to call it quits and manage without French for the rest of her probably very long existence.

'Not bad. I'd like to hear you, though,' he says and Nile feels herself heating up, wondering how the hell that simple sentence can sound so sensual.

'Can _you_ start, please? Just to make sure I remember correctly,' she asks in a half-desperate attempt to gather her thoughts, which are now all over the place.

'Sure thing. _Bonjour! Je m'appelle Sébastien et je suis très enchanté de vous connaître._ '

Yeah, this is not helping. Quite the opposite. His accent is impeccable, of course and the way he's rolling the Rs scatters any coherent thoughts she may have had left. Nile thinks a droplet of drool might actually be trickling from the corner of her mouth.

'Could you say it again, please?' and this is purely for self-indulgent reasons. Booker just nods and repeats.

This happens every couple of minutes for the next two hours. She does take notes and they actually make sense because he's an excellent teacher, unlike poor Mrs. Cooper back in high school, who seemed to have stumbled into the wrong job. It's all fine and dandy when he speaks in English. When he switches to French, however, it's a completely different story.

It's like he's an entirely different person and Nile finds it utterly mesmerising. His lips move differently, more fluidly, as if caressing the vowels, his eyes seem warmer and his entire posture shifts into something more imposing and more.. sophisticated. It makes no sense whatsoever and she gets so absorbed in all these little details that she simply can't process what she's hearing and instead focuses on the melodicity. Hence Booker having to constantly repeat himself.

' _Comment puis-je vous aider?_ ' he enunciates clearly for the third time and Nile just smiles dumbly at him.

'Are you still with me?' he asks, half amused, half exasperated.

'Yeah, yeah, of course. You're just making it sound so beautiful, even though it's a mundane thing to ask.'

'You need to focus a bit more, kid,' he laughs and Nile huffs annoyedly.

'Why do you insist on calling me that?'

'What, "kid"? Booker asks and this time he's fully amused.

'Yes,' she answers in a clipped tone.

'Because you _are_ a kid, at least to me,' he explains, smiling kindly and Nile feels the urge to smack him on the head.

'You're not that much older than me,' she crosses her arms and purses her lips and yes, she does look like a child now but she can't say she cares.

'Actually-'

'I'm not talking about immortal years,' she cuts him off quickly.

'Although we should, because I've been around for way longer than you have,' he says mildly. 'But even so, I could be your father.'

'Are you being serious right now?' Nile asks disbelievingly.

'Of course not,' Booker grins, and then suddenly does become serious. 'Does it bother you?'

'A bit, yeah.'

'Why?' he asks and he sounds genuinely curious.

Nile just sighs and stays quiet for a few moments. She's not totally sure why it irks her so much but she doesn't want to run her theories by him. Maybe sometime in the future, not right now, so she settles for a half-truth.

'Because it keeps reminding me that I'm the newbie. It's enough that I have a lot of catching up to do on languages and fighting techniques and weapons and god knows what else. Andy insists I learn how to ride a _horse_ ,' she says, rolling her eyes. 'And you have so many inside jokes and make so many references to stuff that's happened in the past that it gets very hard to follow.'

Booker opens his mouth to say something but she raises her index finger to stop him.

'I'm not saying that in itself bothers me. It's actually fascinating to discover new things about you guys and to put two and two together. I've always loved puzzles and my life with you is now a two million piece one. But I don't like being openly reminded how much my life has changed and how much catching up I have to do.'

It's only at the end of her little speech that she realises it isn't actually a half-truth. She had never stopped to analyse her feelings but now that she's replaying her own words in her head, they all make perfect sense. It doesn't make the other two points less valid, she thinks, but that's a speech for another time.

'I'm really sorry,' he says quietly.

'I wasn't looking for an apology, Seb.'

'I know. But that doesn't change how I feel. I was in your position once and I completely forgot what it was like. I should've been more considerate. Granted, back then I never took the time to really think about how I feel, let alone talk to anyone about it,' Booker mutters grimly. 'And you know how _that_ worked out in the end,' he adds darkly. 'From this point of view, and not just this one, you are a lot braver than I'll ever be and I really admire you!'

Nile feels herself heating up again. How did they get from Booker teaching her French to delving into such serious topics and him expressing his admiration for her?

'I- thank you,' she says, slightly flustered.

'No need to thank me, dearest. And point taken,' he adds, smiling warmly and Nile smiles back.

'Anyway,' he continues, 'I think we can call it a day. Let me just give you some homework and then we're done.'

'What?!'

\---

**Author's Note:**

>  _Bonjour! Je m'appelle Sébastien et je suis très enchanté de vous connaître._ \- Hello! My name is Sébastien and I'm very delighted to meet you. 
> 
> _Comment puis-je vous aider?_ \- How can I help you?


End file.
